The present invention relates to a mobile telephone equipment having a head-up display as a display means for displaying communications information, and more particularly to a mobile telephone equipment which has a touch panel formed on a front windshield in a manner to correspond to displayed telephone push buttons.
Conventional mobile telephone equipments have either no display means for displaying communications information or use simple liquid-crystal display means or the like on a main telephone unit or a handset for displaying communications information.
FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings shows a typical handset for use with a conventional mobile telephone equipment. The handset shown in FIG. 4, denoted at 62, has a liquid crystal display panel 64 for displaying communications information such as the telephone number of a party to which the telephone device is being connected, and the period of time during which the call is being made, or calendar information such as date, time, etc. The handset 62 also has push buttons 66 including a dial.
Since the liquid crystal display panel 64 is disposed on the handset 62, the display area of the liquid crystal display panel 64 is limited, i.e., it is not wide enough to display a sufficient amount of information with high visibility. When the driver of the automobile uses the handset 62 while driving the automobile, the driver has to turn his eyes from the front view. To make a call from the handset 62, the driver has to take the handset 62 and look at the push buttons 66, and hence has to turn his eyes from the front view. Consequently, using the handset 62 or making a call from the handset 62 while driving the automobile is quite dangerous. Use of the handset 62 to place a call at night while driving the automobile is particularly dangerous because the driver's compartment is dark, making the push buttons 66 less visible and causing the driver to take more time to make the call than during the daytime.
Some recent automobiles have a head-up display device for displaying information such as an automobile speed, a distance traveled, the time, and so on within a front field of view outside of the front windshield, so that the driver can see the displayed information in a superimposed relation to the actual front view. One known head-up display device, for example, is disclosed in Japanese patent laid-open No. 267288/92. The head-up display device allows the driver to see displayed information outside of the front windshield without turning his eyes from the front field of view.